I am not a fan of the singer from Evergrey. So, this news has me bummed. However, it isn't entirely unexpected.
Ray Alder got married, moved to Spain, and has a family. And he's probably at a point where he only really wants to concentrate on one band. Remember, he joined Redemption when Fates really wasn't heavily active. Now that Fates IS heavily active again, and Ray has taken up writing 90 percent of the lyrics on Fates material, he's probably just too busy.
Besides, I always had a little bit of a question mark around that whole thing. When you're in two prog metal bands with the same fan base (generally) and one is sorta "competing" (not really, but yes in the sense that they both are in the same genre) with the other, that doesn't really seem right to either band.
I think this is the right decision for both bands, but I'm not sold on Redemption's choice, despite what Nick and Chris think. I will, of course, give it a shot. But I never cared for Tom's timbre. I am sure I am in the minority on that one. And I'm happy for fellow Redemption fans that like the move. I hope it grows on me. Looking forward to hearing a new record.